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Claiming His Own by Olivia Gates

A hot sexy Russian hero, a super fabulous plot with lots of twists and turns and an explosive ending that will leave you in complete awe, yes this book had it all and so much more.

Definitely one of the most intense reads of the year! The book tells the story of Caliope and Maksim, brought together by a fierce attraction their raging passionate nights leads to Cali becoming pregnant but instead of the normal he will do anything to be with her and the baby the author took this read in a whole other direction.

Maksim will claim the child as his heir but does not want to be part of it's life, but he will be around for Cali as long as she will have him.

So when he suddenly disappears Cali is convinced something terrible happened to him, after all he said he would be with her till their passion fades with the baby only in the background
( yes I know this sounds incredible and believe me it was the plot of the year).

A year goes by and suddenly Maksim is back, but standing on Cali's doorstep is not the man she fell in love with, he is only half the man she knew, when he reveals the reason for leaving Cali is not only in shock but also a state of utter confusion., Maksim wants her and the baby and a marriage. Why now and not before? And how is she meant to make this decision without it being a direct reflection to her mother's past?

The character of Maskim was truly mind blowing-ly fascinating! I truly could not get enough of this hero. Strong, sexy and confident the one minute and helpless and a heap of sorrow the next. His reasoning for taking off then just popping back up made him a very intriguing hero and his kind and caring nature touched my heart.

But what I found most fascinating was the inner battle he fights with himself in wanting to be with Cali but not wanting to hurt her. This reminded me that in real life it is what each and everyone of us do, we want, need and crave but in an attempt to not face failure we try to control the future and of course this is impossible and in the process our attempts cause more damage.

The character of Cali was brilliant. Strong and always ready to push for what she wants and needs, but also always alert to know when it is time to stop pushing and rather start re-directing those in her life ready to meddle in her happiness. I absolutely adored how the author let Cali have this hangup with her mother and the actions she takes in life, it showed her as I think most woman are, afraid to turn into their mothers yet when faced with similar circumstances the true understanding into their mothers actions becomes a clear and very vivid reality, opening the road to understanding.

The backdrop settings were simply amazing! Each and every setting was mouthwatering, laced with so much vivid description it left me in a state of wonder and wanting to be right there to see what was being described, but with the exquisite descriptions it was as if I truly was!

The dialogue was filled with such heartbreaking emotion and intensity it left me in tears more than once both of sorrow and joy. The most amazing of all was the twists and turns of this read, just when I thought I had it figured out the author would take it to a whole new level which reminded me that this is exactly what real life is like, it is never the perfect road , and therefore this read was as real as it gets and I found it simply brilliant.

But it did also leave me with quite a number of stares in my direction when a twist happened and I would shout out a big ear piercing "NO!" yes I truly believe the others in the room thought me completely mad. For me this just meant that the author truly wrote a masterpiece and I was completely entranced.

I am taking away a message of tragedy can strike at any time and our perfect happy lives can become bleak and meaningless but we have no control of the when or where or what and for this reason it is of the highest importance to always live each day to the fullest and be with the ones we love for tomorrow they may be gone.

I highly recommend this read for all fans of romance so intense and filled with the wonder of life, you will be in trapped in world of pure brilliant romance! Sensual, sexy, passionate, spicy and simply beautiful!

5 star review

" Claiming his family brings him back to life" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Reviewed by Nancy Crocker

In Olivia Gates latest
book Claiming His Own: We find Maksim and Caliope who first meet across a
crowded room. And agree to a friend’s with benefits type relationship. Neither
one is interested in anything serious, for personal reasons.

When Cali accidently becomes
pregnant a year into their relationship she has already managed to fall in love
with Maksim. When she confesses she is pregnant she is shocked by his reaction,
but agrees to his terms. She just was not prepared for him to walk away without
a word.

Maksim had what he
believed to be very good reasons for walking away from Cali. One year later he
is back. But this is where the story really takes off. And we learn why Maksim
made the choices he did. Maksim is back and he wants to be a father to their
son.

Just when you believe
all will end well between these two, this story takes a very emotional rollercoaster
ride. And this reader was holding her breathe and praying for a great outcome.
Then Maksim once again breaks Cali’s heart.

Olivia does any amazing
job of writing characters with deep emotions. She was able to showcase their
strengths and weaknesses and the passionate obsession with each other. She also
was able to take this reader along on the trip to Russia. Without giving too
much away Olivia described a special occasion that took place while in Russia
with great detail.

Favorite line:

“ Ya ocheen skoocha po
tebyeh, moya dorogoya.”

I missed you so terribly, my darling.

5/5 stars

I received an ARC of
this book from the Author in exchange for an honest review.

CLAIMING HIS OWN by Olivia Gates is a Harlequin Desire
release for November 2013.

Caliope Sarantos and Maksim Volkov discover their scorching
hot passion for each other. And get into a no-commitment fling.

But with Cali getting pregnant, it would of course have to
change. Yet Maksim walks away from her and her baby. So would Cali take him
back when he comes?

Would Cali let him meet his son?

CLAIMING HIS OWN is a lively contemporary romance with a
strong heroine you will love and want to cherish and a gorgeous bad boy hero
you are sure to swoon over. Author Olivia Gates brings to live this sparkling tale
of second chance romance with all the sensuality and tension which is her
trademark!

Highly recommended and well worth reading!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Review by TashNz

Claiming His Own by Olivia Gates is one of the most intense-est, highly emotional and gripping reads I've had the pleasure in reading in quite a while. The opening chapter alone took me on a ride from complete and utter happiness to sheer devastation in a heartbeat. And that's just the start. Olivia has done a fantastic job of taking me on a total roller-coaster of a ride. One minute I'm happy Caliope is feeling on top of the world, next minute I'm almost throwing myself on the floor sobbing at the unfairness of life, thru to wide eyed wonder and what Maksim has been thru (both past and present).

I heap the praise on Olivia Gate's writing. I think Olivia has done an outstanding job at making the Russian language sound so beautiful and romantic. The words just roll off Maksim's lips and they just sound devine. Olvia's skill at describing feelings is so realistic. I could feel the pain each person suffered. A couple of words made me clearly remember what it was like to have a newborn baby and no Daddy in the picture and the utter loss and uselusness one feels when this occurs due to no fault of your own. The descriptions of Maksim as he told his stories, oh wow! The heart dropping moments and the happy moments, brilliantly written.

Absolutely LOVED the way the first chapter opened. Wow! It was a fantastic set up because it really did portray Maksim as a king on top of the world, what he wants he gets, he's fearless and strong with a massive presence about him. Caliope was a great female character, she knows the score with Maksim and the moment leading up to her telling Maksim she's pregnant had my heart pounding in wonder of how he'd react.

Dont let the cover fool you, this is not a sweet and lovey-dovey baby mama romance book, it's a powerful and passionate ride where your heart is torn in two with every flick of the page. If you're a fan of Sweet Romance this is not the book for you. If you love depth, angst, emotion, mixed in with sheer pleasure, happiness and wonder, then this IS the book for you :)